Fires of Ages
by Rhavis
Summary: A short back story to Playing With fire to explain the war that r'gent had been in, and how the New Breed was brought about.


Disclaimer: Wish I owned Dragon riders of Pern, but if I got a hold of it then I would probably screw it up badly.

I decided to make a short one-shot as a back story to help with the explanation of what's going on in the first chapter on my fan fiction Playing With Fire.

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Almost three hundred turns after the last fall of thread had signaled a new era for Pern, and her people. As dragons gathered under a single banner as Pern's military force the Pernease people reached for the stars. New training regimes had led the dragons to learn how to use their telepathic powers to create shields about them that were far more powerful then the shields on the colonizer _Yokohama_. Groups of dragon were also able to create shields for the Pernease ships, but they did not neglect the other aspect of war.

Years of training and focusing had also aloud dragons to mold their powers into weapons. Telekinetic blades that could slice anything they wished were turned into their weapon in space. On the ground Fire was the weapon of choice.

Flame throwers were improved, and the dragons added their telepathic abilities to intensify their fire.

Almost five thousand years after Pern reached for the heavens they had colonized a hundred planets and created the Union of Pern. The crafts barely changed, and planets were named after original provinces or important figures in Pernease history. The FSP, by that time was now known as the Republic of Sentient Planets, had found them. First contact was made by the fridge frigate _Groghe _as it was on a regular patrol. But as a small expeditionary fleet from the RSP had come out of hyper space they sent a message to Pern and contact procedures began. Tensions were high the first few months following because the Pernease colony had been abandoned but things slowly settled down after the initial problems were resolved. When extended an invitation to join the RSP the leaders of Pern and her colonies had said that they'd "think" about it, with no real intention of joining. Instead they announced that they would be allies.

It had continued like that for years after and trade had grown from things like Klah and other Pernease exports. But it had not been long after that when the RSP found the Mioko. Upon first contact the Mioko hadn't even introduced them selves and opened fire. War burst like a bubble between the Mioko and the RSP leading to crushing defeats for the RSP and a seemingly hopeless war. Pern learning of this decided now was as good a time as any to repay the RSP for sending the first colonizers to Pern and joined the war on the RSP's side.

The Mioko didn't like the experience.

The first battle between the Mioko and the Pernease happened as a Mioko raiding fleet tried flanking the shattering line the RSP were holding. Two Pernease ships that were entering the system on in-system drives to speak with the ambassador of the planet they were going to had found it under siege. The RSP ships in orbit had been easily destroyed and Mioko were bombing cities from orbit while their ground forces were clashing with the planet's militia.

The envoy ships found them selves out numbered five to one as the Mioko noticed they were there. Thinking the "unarmed" ships were simple civilian frigates they sent only one ship to deal with them, but instead it's weapons were shrugged off effortlessly by shields that were supposedly not even there. Mioko scanners showed that they had launch bays but no shields and no weapons, but the ship sent to deal with them was shredded without effort as the ships passed it.

The Mioko realizing here was a real threat had turned their fleet from the planet's gravity well to face the new threat as fighters sped to them. The ship's sides seemed to open up wide as they released their hidden cargo as dragons swarmed out in droves. The Mioko fighters were easily eradicated by the lesser force, and the ships were destroyed with ease.

As they were dealt with Pernease forces were transported to the ground, and the fight there began. Mioko aerial fighters proved to be less maneuverable then dragons, and the ground forces fell to the unyielding flames of the ground crews or a leviathan's breath.

The following months of the war was a turning point as the Pernease army crushed the Mioko, but the Mirage fighters were developed, and they proved to be a trump card against the normal dragons. But Pern's chief scientists had at the same time created the "Silver Flight" from remnant DNA left over from the legendary dragon Ruth. They were elites among the forces that fought.

Yet, even these beasts proved to be a cold comfort against the ships that the Silver Flight could barely hold back. So yet again the Pernease scientists looked again to the proverbial drawing board.

What they came up with they called the New Breed. They took ninety randomly selected candidates off the hatching grounds and put them through countless tests and genetic augmentations. One pair out of a possible eighty survived.

The war drug on for years after that and led to Operation Angel Wings, witch R'gent and Archon had both participated in, and were sent to the past by Lilith's mistake.

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This clear anything up for my main Dragon Riders fan fiction?

If not send me a PM or ask in the reviews.


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